Company has signed an agreement to represent Topps’ football trading card game.

Match Attax is the best-selling sport trading card game. New card releases take place three times throughout the football season, and fans can use their collection to play a card game version of football, using the defence and attack statistics on the cards.

Nearly half of all boys in the UK collect Match Attax. During the last football season, a Match Attax pack was bought on average every 1.2 seconds, through 46,000 outlets, with parents accounting for 74% of all purchases. Live swapping events are held across the country, whilst the brand’s online presence – Toppsfootball.com – has over 600,000 registered users and is the 9th most visited boys site in the UK.

Bulldog’s initial focus is on products such as apparel, accessories, stationery and gift, with initial merchandise predicted to hit retail from spring 2018.

Chris Rodman, group managing director of Topps, commented: “Given the phenomenal interest and engagement in the Match Attax brand, from both children and their parents, extending the brands reach with a focused licensing program offers both Topps and licensees a unique opportunity. Rob and the Bulldog licensing team are the perfect partners to help us achieve this goal.”

Bulldog MD Rob Corney added: “We are incredibly excited about representing Match Attax. It’s tapping into a huge market and the stats surrounding the brand are staggering – it is amazingly popular. In licensing terms the brand has massive potential and we are expecting to announce initial deals very soon.”